France, Germany raise concerns over EU plan to redistribute migrantsJune 1, 2015 - 14:03 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - France and Germany raised concerns on Monday, June 1, over a European Commission plan to redistribute migrants reaching Italy and Greece, saying it must take better account of efforts they have already taken to receive asylum-seekers. The European Commission proposed last week to share out 40,000 Syrian and Eritrean migrants reaching Italy and Greece to other European Union member countries, with Germany and France in line to take nearly 40 percent of the migrants between them. The interior ministers of France and Germany said in a joint statement they were ready to study the Commission's proposal, based on a fair distribution of migrants. "This temporary relocalization mechanism must be founded on two principles of equal importance: responsibility and solidarity. We believe that the balance between these two principles has not yet been reached in the proposal presented by the Commission," they said. Top stories Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev arrived in Moscow on April 22 to hold talks with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive. In 2023, the Azerbaijani government will increase the country’s defense budget by more than 1.1 billion manats ($650 million). The bill, published on Monday, is designed to "eliminate the shortcomings of an unreasonably broad interpretation of the key concept of "compatriot". Partner news | Putin congratulates Pashinyan’s birthday Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on his birthday on June 1. Opposition motorcade en route to Gyumri for large rally A motorcade of protesters headed by Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan is heading to the city of Gyumri. Ruling MPs, Foreign Minister talk Armenia-Azerbaijan processes MOs from the ruling Civil Contract party met with the Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan in the Armenian parliament. Russia: Armenia’s frozen membership weakens CSTO position in Caucasus A Russian envoy said any step that could alienate the CSTO member states from each other is “deeply wrong”. |